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Why the long silence? What can we say but, “Woe is the plight of the institutional blogger.” We were still working. We swear it. Unfortunately, the blogging fell under the category of “other duties as assigned” and there was stuff further up the list to attend to.

But that’s no excuse.

Well, maybe it is. A bad excuse.

But we’re back. Why? Because there’s just too much going on at the 16th Street J both out front and behind-the-scenes to keep it to ourselves. Because we want a conversation between and amongst the people who use our building and its programs. Because, when we’re not on the job, stuff like this happens and there’s no one else to stand in the gap. Or the following occurs on Craigslist:

Jewish girl who passed out in my bed – m4w

Date: 2009-01-21, 12:25PM EST
You: Jewish, attractive and drunk
Me: Not Jewish (Gentile), dashing, gazelle on the dance floor and drunk
In case you were as blacked out as I think you were, I feel as though I should reintroduce myself. You were dancing around and enjoying the festive cake and brownies at the JCC inaugural bar mitzvah…I mean inaugural ball, before cabbing to Chinatown and passing out in my bed. Nothing makes me swoon for interfaith relationships like a girl who passes out in my lap in the back of a cab.
You might be asking yourself “why did that sweet boy not call me?” or “did I really wake up in a random guy’s bed in Chinatown?” and other important questions to gauge whether or not last night was a dream, drunken haze or bittersweet reality. Allow me to answer those questions.

You can read the rest of the listing, (juicy enough to make the Best of Craigslist) but allow us a moment in our own defense.

Bar mitzvah? What did you think an inaugural ball was? Okay, there probably weren’t many other balls where a person was hoisted on a chair and carried around the hall, but as you yourself noted, a good portion of the crowd was deep in their cups. In those situations, we tend to reduce ourselves to sterotypical behavior. Greeks break plates, the French surrender and Jews lift people on chairs. The reality is that most of these events are variations on the bar mitzvah. In most cases they only vary by the amount of alcohol imbibed. Examples:

Sweet 16 — Bat mitzvah for a non-Jewish girl.

Quinceañera — Bat mitzvah for a Latina chica.

Prom — Bar/Bat mitzvah with the greater possibility of sex

Charity Gala — Tax-deductible Bar mitzvah.

Wedding — A Bar mitzvah with the even greater likelihood of sex.

Inaugural Gala — A Bar Mitzvah for the President (at some point, perhaps a Bat Mitzvah)

Regardless, we’re back in the blogging business. We’re kicking ass and taking names. We’re coming to a blog near you.